Traditional camouflage material, at least since the advent of World War II, has been formed in patterns of earth-colored splotches on a lighter background, or darker, green-dominated leaf pattern camouflage. These camouflage patterns usually have curved or wavy borders separating the different colors. More recently, imitation bark patterns have been introduced which include shapes resembling barks of trees, i.e., slender, elongated shapes, and these latter patterns have retained much of the splotchiness of the traditional camouflage patterns. However, the previously proposed camouflage materials have not been ideal for hunting in certain forested environments, because their more-or-less traditional camouflage patterns have not mimicked real tree bark sufficiently well, and do not cause the wearer of a garment including the camouflage pattern to resemble or blend with the trunks of surrounding trees.
Many of the bark camouflage patterns available today are almost photographic and are designed to look like a particular type of tree. Consequently, this type of camouflage works only if, when applied to a garment worn by a hunter, the hunter is standing among trees of that particular kind. Other types of bark camouflage are characterized by groupings of lighter tones, which can be easily spotted by the prey. Still others use small or closely connected patterns which can be too tight, and lose definition, becoming discernible masses of color at a distance.
Among prior art patents directed to camouflage garments for hunters and camouflage patterns applied to such garments, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,065 (Yacovella) which describes a bark camouflage cloth which mimics the rough bark of a tree. The camouflage pattern on the cloth contains rough, highly elongated vertical ribs of a first light or countershaded earth tone, vertical channels of a second, darker earth tone, an black vertical shadow edge markings along one side edge of each of the ribs. Islands of a third color, e.g., a greenish hue, are interspersed among the vertical ribs. The pattern of vertical shadow edge markings changes left to right across the pattern to create the illusion of curvature of a tree trunk.
Other utility patents directed to camouflage patterns and camouflage items include U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,863 which describes a three-dimensional camouflage sheet, U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,033 which describes a camouflage garment, U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,488 which describes a two-dimensional camouflage material with spaced apart rows of cuts, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,019 which describes a camouflage material with different color hues.
There are numerous design patents directed to camouflage patterns, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 297,076, Des. 297,596, Des. 297,786, Des. 299,188 Des. 301,289, Des. 301,803, Des. 301,804 Des. 301,805, Des. 306,658, Des. 309,380, Des. 324,312, Des. 326,363, Des. 332,179, Des. 363,594, Des. 365,192 and Des. 366,154. The camouflage patterns of most of these design patents include the shape of specific objects, such as animals (U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 297,786 and Des. 301,804), people (U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 301,289 and Des. 301,803), trees with leaves (U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 309,380, Des. 332,179 and Des. 366,154), leaves alone (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 326,363), tree bark (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 324,312), tree branches (U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 299,188 and Des. 306,658).